An abuse scandal has sparked resignations and protests in Hungary. In his State of the Nation speech, Prime Minister Orban tried to leave the topic behind and go on the attack.
Viktor Orban tried business as usual. His State of the Union address: a thematic all-rounder. Orban railed against the European Union, against aid for Ukraine and against migration. He took up the scandal in the ranks of his Fidesz party, but presented the resignation of President Katalin Novak and former Justice Minister Judit Varga as a normal course of events. Now things should happen quickly.
I call on the governing party group to begin the process of electing the new president on the day the president leaves office.
Resignations in Hungary are anything but normal. In Orban’s eyes, this only strengthens critics whose demands it confirms, says political scientist Peter Krekó in ARD interview on the sidelines of a demonstration for children’s rights in Budapest on Friday. “So I think that from now on the government will try to avoid personal consequences from this whole matter; and instead will try to just put the whole matter behind them.”
Orban tried Abuse topic quickly checked off
Orban’s State of the Nation speech seems to confirm Krekó’s assessment. After the brief statements about the two resignations of Novak and Varga, the topic was off the table. Whether the population will accept this is another question. Yesterday evening, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the Hungarian capital under the motto “Enough.” The scandal – the pardon of a man who had put abuse victims under pressure – is destroying the government’s narrative about family values, Christianity and morality, says political scientist Krekó:
I think they now face the difficulty of maintaining their monopoly on information and interpretation, which has been one of the regime’s greatest advantages so far.
However, the scandal will probably not strengthen the opposition. So far it has not been able to benefit from other crises, such as high inflation. The demonstration in Budapest was not organized by parties, but by influencers, including Zsolt Osvath, who has almost 250,000 subscribers on YouTube and who advocates for a revival of the culture of discussion in Hungary.
There are signs of an end to the NATO dispute
Political scientist Krekó believes that the government will now go on the attack. He expects more attacks on LGBTQ people in Hungary to distract from the government crisis. And: with more disputes with the European Union, against which Orban has been campaigning for years. Orban also said on Saturday that only problems for Hungary would come from Brussels. With a view to the European elections and his country’s EU Council Presidency starting in July, Orban set the tone as follows: “Only a new European right can bring about real change. Goodbye Brussels, long live Europe!”.
But Orban no longer wants to mess with NATO – and thus with the USA. A US delegation is visiting the country on Sunday to discuss the alliance. Hungary is the last country that has not yet approved Sweden’s accession to NATO. But it will probably give up this blockade. So far, Sweden’s accession to NATO has failed due to resistance from the Fidesz party in parliament, which has a firm grip on Orban.
Silke Hahne, ARD Vienna, tagesschau, February 17, 2024 5:41 p.m